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Through the first 13 years of his career, future Hall of Fame pitcher and previous Dodgers target Justin Verlander had no reason to make himself an enemy of LA. He was the AL Central Tigers' prized ace who only pitched against LA once throughout his entire tenure in Detroit (and got knocked around a little doing it). And then he became an Astro in 2017 and was given the ball twice during that year's Dodgers-Astros World Series.
Verlander wasn't at the absolute height of his powers during either of those starts, but he still gave Houston 12 innings across Game 2 and Game 6, the former of which the Astros went on to win to make the series even.
Of course, the Astros ended up beating the Dodgers in seven games in a season that would eventually become marred by the mysterious sounds of bats hitting trash cans, making anyone on that 2017 Astros roster an eternal enemy of Dodgers fans.
Now, Verlander's moving into the Dodgers' neck of the woods. On Tuesday, he signed a one-year deal with the Giants pending a physical.
BREAKING: Right-hander Justin Verlander and the San Francisco Giants are in agreement on a one-year contract, pending physical, sources tell ESPN. The future Hall of Famer, who turns 42 next month, will spend his 20th season with the Giants.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) January 7, 2025
Justin Verlander signs with Dodgers rival Giants on a one-year deal
Verlander spent a lot of the 2024 season on the IL and pitched 90 1/3 innings with a 5.48 ERA for the Astros. To no one's surprise, he was left off of the Wild Card roster and had to watch as the Tigers moved on to the ALDS without him, dispatching Houston early for the first time in a decade.
He was the oldest active player in the major leagues in 2024, but he never announced intentions to retire following the season. His market has materialized slowly throughout the offseason so far, with a recent (characteristically vague) update from Jon Morosi on Saturday simply stating that "multiple teams" were interested in his services. That was the first indication that Verlander would find a new home in 2025, but the Giants certainly weren't on anyone's radar for him regardless.
One has to think that 2025 will be a last hoorah for him. His spot in the Hall of Fame is all but guaranteed, maybe even on his first ballot, but it's been hard to deny his decline over the last few seasons. When he's great, he's great (he won the Cy Young as recently as 2022), but his age definitely seems to be catching up to him. Hopefully it'll keep him from causing the Dodgers too many problems this upcoming season.